- Threskiornis aethiopicus
Threskiornis aethiopica
Identification
Length 68 cm (26¾")
- All-white body plumage
- Dark plumes on the rump
- Bald head and neck
- Thick curved bill
- Dark eyes
- Black legs
- A black rear border to the wings is visible in flight
Sexes are similar, but juveniles have dirty white plumage, a smaller bill and some feathering on the neck.
Similar species
Malagasy Sacred Ibis shows pale eyes, shorter bill, less black in wing tips, and no obvious neck sack.
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa, and south-eastern Iraq. It has also been introduced into France, Italy, and Spain.
Taxonomy
Forms a superspecies [6] with Australian Ibis and Black-headed Ibis which have been split from this species.
Subspecies
This is a monotypic species[1].
Malagasy Sacred Ibis and African Sacred Ibis were previously treated as one species, Sacred Ibis. This split has now been accepted by all major checklists: Clements 2019[1], Dickenson & Remsen (2014)[4] , Gill & Donsker (2018)[5] , Matheu et al. (2018)[7] and BirdLife International (2008)2 as recommended by Lowe & Richards (1991)[6].
Habitat
Occurs in marshy wetlands and mud flats, both on the coast and inland, and it can be found also in agricultural areas and rubbish dumps.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes invertebrates and their larvae, worms, fish, frogs, fish and other aquatic creatures, carrion, refuse as well as the eggs of colonial nesting birds and crocodiles.
Breeding
Monogamous and colonial. Nest usually in trees, but sometimes on ground. Often mixed with other waders such as herons. The 2 or 3 eggs are laid on a large platform stick nest.
Vocalisation
Mostly silent, but occasionally makes some croaking noises.
Movements
Nomadic or migratory. Movements of several hundred kilometers to breed during rains.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BirdLife International
- de Boer L. E. M., van Brink J. M. (1982) Cytotaxonomy of the Ciconiiformes (Aves), with karyotypes of eight species new to cytology. Cytogenet Genome Res 34:19-34.
- Dickinson, E.C. and Remsen, J.V. ed. 2014. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 4th ed. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0956861122
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v 10.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Lowe, K. W.; Richards, G. C. (1991). Morphological Variation in the Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus Superspecies Complex PDF. Emu. 91 (1): 41–45. doi:10.1071/MU9910041. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
- Matheu, E., del Hoyo, J., Christie, D.A., Kirwan, G.M. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2018). African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/52753 on 10 July 2018).
- http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/animals/birds/ibis.htm
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) African Sacred Ibis. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/African_Sacred_Ibis
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
